Cave Creek

The hike in Cave Creek was special because William joined us. Doesn't happen often so mark it down - April 12, 2015. We drove up to Cave Creek for an early AM hike in the foothills. There is always something different to see everywhere you go, everytime you go. It might be the flowering plants or a waterfall or a creek or well you just never know what. Sometimes it's wild animals, but not this time.

 So let's get started. This is called the Jewel of the Creek and we took the Dragonfly Trail.

How cool is this flower? I call it a fairy duster, not sure what it really is, but I think there really is some flower called a fairy duster or pixie duster or something like that.

This is the flowering Ocotillo or as I call it Nature's Barbed Wire.

This place was pretty full of Saguaros. I imagine when they flower it is quite the sight to see.

And finally a little water feature, every good hike has a water feature somewhere in it. Had to cross that little creek on those thin little boards, it was interesting.

 

That's all I got for now, Adios

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Doing some catch up posts here, cause I have been MIA for quite some time and I am sure I have something to say. In March we went to Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park. We hadn't been there in quite some time, like a few years, some things have changed and some have remained the same. It is still a great place to walk around and enjoy the beauty and quiet of nature. Some photos of the trip for your viewing pleasure:

 

 

In addition to the beautiful scenery, there were a few Chapunga statues scattered around the grounds. We first saw a Chapunga exhibit at the Chicago Botanical Gardens in June 2003. They are beautiful stone statues and so it was fun to see one again when we least expected it.

 

After we finished walking around the Arboretum, we went into Superior to take a look around. We have been here before, but never to the "business" area of town. Like most mining towns around here, it was a very depressed area. It is so sad to see all the abandoned buildings and businesses. What was once a thriving area, where people built their homes and lived their dreams, is now just left to decay.

That's all I got for now, Au revoir 

Sears-Kay Ruins

This was originally to be a hike to Seven Springs near the Carefree/CaveCreek area, though we never quite made it there. Along the way is the Sears-Kay Ruins, which we stopped to see. Well that little hike, one mile round trip, ended up being quite interesting and by the time we finished it was too hot for me to even consider anymore outdoor activity for the day. Such is life in the desert. Actually I cannot imagine life in the desert back when the Hohokam lived here. There were even a couple caches along the trail and there was this rather large spider, not really sure what kind and you might have to look hard to see it, because it was blending right into the rocks, but see it I did and it was creepy looking.

Pat climbed up the rocks to check for any enemies that might be advancing, just like the Hohokam back in the 1500s. 

 

 This was part of the ruins, note the low rock walls that set out the different rooms of their village.

 You can see forever from up on top of the hill and that is probably why they settled there to be able to see when the enemy was headed their way.

It was a pleasant drive and an interesting area, we will have to head back for the Seven Springs hike when the weather gets much much cooler.

 

Trip to Sedona/Cottonwood

Yep, still trying to avoid the heat here in the Valley of the Sun. Pat and I decided since it still gets too hot for me to hike in this area we would head up to Sedona for the day. We proceeded to try to find a hike that wouldn't be too long, and we could be done before the sun got to me. All of our regular spots in the Sedona area are in NATIONAL FORESTs, oh what gorgeous areas they are and so plentiful we never have to do the same hike twice. Guess what they were all closed YES closed just like the Grand Canyon, so we had to find a state park to hike in. Low and behold we found Red Rock State Park and it was open and we had never been there and so off we went. It turned out to be a very interesting park and one we probably would not have gotten to for some time, leaning more towards the National Parks when we hike. There were multiple trails and they all sort of winded around linking up with each other and so you can hike any length of time to suit your needs. One of the hikes went past this wonderful looking stone house, that was fenced in and no admittance was allowed and well that didn't make me happy because that is just the sort of thing I like to dig around in. Turns out the house has a legend and you can read about it here. The house belonged to Jack and Helen Frye. Jack was the "father" of TWA and Helen at one time was Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. I believe there is a story there, but you will have to read the legend to find out.

  I love red rock country.

 Also love a creek on my hikes.

 Trail Closed doesn't stop him.

 Did I mention the Grand Canyon and all National Forests are closed? That would pretty much cover most of Northern Arizona. We found the tourists who got turned away at the GC, they ended up at Red Rock State Park!

 They fenced me out.

 A closer look at what I am sure was a magnificent home in the middle of Red Rock Country. 

On our way home we went through Old Cottonwood to look around. There was another pleasant surprise. I think Jerome gets way more publicity and tourists, however, Old Cottonwood was a very cute little town with a lot of old stone buildings. There were also lot of wine shops and wine tasting rooms and so on. Since I am not doing all that well with my acquiring a taste for wine, we skipped that, looked around town for a bit, had lunch then headed home. 

 Look how cool this stone building is. If I remember correctly it is a Community Center. Probably play bingo there on Friday nights.

 This was a motel, had a really nice courtyard area with dark creepy stairways to the second floor all done in stone.

This is the old jailhouse turned tea room.

It was a fun Sunday exploring new areas. Take the road less traveled you never know where you will end up.

Hiking in Prescott Valley

On Sunday, July 21st, in another of my never ending attempts to flee the heat of the East Valley, Pat and I decided to go hiking north of here and hopefully find cooler weather. We ended up in Prescott Valley, it is north and the weather is cooler. Problem was, at least for me, there had been a lot of rain up there the week prior and it was still hot to me and HUMID. Yes, humid, I do tend to forget how much I dislike being in humid air. My hair quickly frizzed out to three times it's normal size, all of me was one big sweatball, and although it was only in the high 70s to low 80s it was hotter than I can stand, the humidity making it almost worse than 100 degree heat. Stress on the almost, seeing as I would never hike, I barely walk more than 20 feet in the 100 degree heat. We hiked in what was a local park with many trails, it is an area known for gold mining. We saw an actual site where they were panning for gold, if that's what you call it and we met a real gold digger. Unfortunately I have no pictures of him or the gold mining site. But trust me he looked like someone who spent his days panning for gold.

  This is the sunrise as we zipped along 101 on our way out of town.

                                          Rest stop

                      Walking the trail or looking for gold?
After the hike we headed into Prescott to see if anything was going on and yes, there was plenty going on. There was an arts/craft show on the town square, not sure if a weekend goes by that there isn't an arts/craft show on the town square. They were also having a fundraiser for the families of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. We walked around a bit, had a burger, fries and shake at a local shop then headed on home. It was nice to get away from the heat and at be able to walk around outside, even if it was rainy and humid.

                        Stormy skies on the ride home

Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona

As the temperatures soar past 100 degrees here in the East Valley, it was time to make a quick get away and head to an area with cooler temps. Pinetop, Arizona in the White Mountains was the destination. Pat and I left Friday after work and planned a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains for Saturday. It took a little over 3 hours to get there on a windy mountain road, the elevation is over 6,000 feet and the temperature was perfect for me. Saturday AM it was 55 degrees when we started hiking and by the time we finished it was near 80. We hiked an 8.5 mile loop trail which wound through the pine trees of the Apache National Forest. We lost the trail at some point about halfway through and walked along a forest road that was probably a shortcut, by this time it was sunny and hot for me and I was worn out and exhausted. After the hike a stop at Red Devil Pizza for lunch then the long drive back home.

 The beautiful town of Pinetop-Lakeside

 This was the original jailhouse moved to a location in town for preservation. It also doubles as Santa's house at Christmas.

 All ready to start the hike.

 This was pretty much the view the entire hike.

 Geocache number 1, found under a pile of rocks.

 Geocache number 2, found under a pile of rocks. 

Sensing a theme here?

 Geocache number 3, was found under a pile of rocks.

 More trees

Somewhere soon after this sign we lost the trail. The trail was very hard to walk on, it had a lot of rocks and I had to walk with my head down, watching where I was stepping as I kept tripping over the rocks. Not that I would have noticed anyway. it was nice to get away if only for a day.

Hiking in Prescott

Pat and I went to hike in Prescott, Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. We were up and on the road by 6AM. It is a two-hour drive to Prescott add in the requisite bathroom stops when traveling with me and we began our hike about 8:30AM. We finished the hike about 2PM, to put it mildly I was exhausted and worn out by the time we were done. Granite Mountain Trail #261 was found in another of Pat's Arizona Highway magazines. It was 8.2 miles round trip and the elevation change was 1400 feet or somewhere in that area. It was pretty much a steady climb all the way to the top, then pretty much downhill the whole way back. Needless to say I liked the way back a lot better. I almost didn't make it all the way to our destination, and truth be told there was another little bit of a climb to reach the very top, but trust me when I tell you there was no way I could make it any further up. The views were gorgeous and I really liked the Granite Mountain area, I am not sure why we have never hiked in Prescott before, but now that we have I believe we will again.

 You might have to look hard here to see it, but there is a javelina in this picture, I have never seen one in the wild before. There were two near the start of the hike and they are kind of scary. Read more about javelinas here.

 How very nice and peaceful does this look? Starting early in the morning gives us plenty of time to enjoy the quiet and solitude before all sorts of loud annoying people show up.

 Pat on one of his many stop and wait breaks. He gets a lot of them because I am always so far behind.

 Lots of these dead looking trees in the area, and I believe that mountain behind there is where we ended up hiking to the top of.

 Little cactus growing up out of the cracks in a boulder.

 Whew, I made it to the top, believe me there was serious doubt along the way whether I would or not. It took me 3 hours to get up there and according to all the guide books it is a 4 hour round trip hike. Guess I need to up my game a bit. We spent about 30 minutes sitting up here, enjoying the view, having a snack and recouping for the way back down. It was a lovely day, the weather was perfect and I can't wait to go back. HAHA I say that now because I have recouped from the pain and exhaustion of that day.

Hiking Phoenix

Sunday was a bit chilly in the morning, but with the sun going full blast you know that doesn't last for long. Pat and I headed to Deem Hills Park in North Phoenix to hike.

 TO THE TOP!

There are a lot of mountains or at least really big hills in the Phoenix area and so it should not surprise me when civilization in the form of endless subdivisions comes right up to a hiking path. It is a lot different hiking in Phoenix than in Sedona or any other even slightly more remote areas. I think people that do these trails are out for exercise of the running up the mountain kind and well that sure isn't me. I like the solitude of hiking in the quiet, no people, no cars in sight. Well people always end up being in my sight but I guess I can't help that. We took the trail around the perimeter of two mountains which totaled almost 6 miles. I am pretty sure Pat could have done it in a lot less time if I were not there, but with me slowing things down it took about 3 hours. Not as pretty as 3 hours of hiking in Sedona, but different and pretty in it's own way and a lot closer.

 Can you see the bumble bee?

Pat loves the saguaros

 

If I look like I am ready to drop, it's because I am. This is near the end of the hike, the sun has taken a toll on me and I am a sweaty mess with a blister on my toe. Fun day, hope to get some more in before it gets really hot.